Inhaler



(No Model.)

E. s. GRIGSBY.

INHALER.

" No. 582,124. Patented May 4,1897.

ma Noam #uns co. mom-uma., msnmomMuc.

Nrrnv STATES ArnNr rrrcn.

INHALER.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 582,124, dated May 4,1897.

Application filed April 21, 1896. Serial No. 588,472. (No model.)

paratus and appliance therefor which will thoroughly vaporize ether orthe like and convey it to a closed casing from which it may 4be inhaled;and a further object of my invention is to so construct such a casingand its fastenings that it may be secured to the head of a person inproper position for inhalation therefrom and when removed from the headmay be thoroughly cleansed and sterilized for further use, therebypreventing the transmission of disease germs.

"With these ends in view my invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, and thenspeciiically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describeits construction and operation in detail, referring to the accompanyingdrawings, forming apart of this specification, in which- Figure 1represents my improvement as applied to the head of a person, thegas-generator being shown in section; Fig. 2, a central vertical sectionof the shield to which the gas-holder is secured; Fig. 3, a detaileddismembered perspective of the two sections of the shield and theportion of the holder to which said sections are secured; Fig. 4, amodified form of the gas-holder and the means of applying the same tothe head of a person, and Fig. 5 a detailed view of the spring-fork forattaching this form of holder to the nose.

Referring in detail to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 1 represents a gas-holder,preferably form ed of a fabric of line mesh, such as silk, and in thegeneral shape of a bag, as shown in Fig. 1, and this bag is securedbetween the two sections 2 and 3 of the shield when these sections aresecured together, as next explained. The section 2 is preferably of thinsheet metal, such as aluminium, and has formed upon its edge a bead 4,adapted to conform to the general shape of the shield 3, so as to matchtherewith when the fabric is placed therebetween, thereby increasing thehold upon said fabric.

6 is a turn-button pivoted to the section 2 and adapted to pass throughthe double-ended buttonholeslot 7, formed crosswise of the section 3. Bythis arrangement it will be seen that when. the two sections are broughttogether and the turn-button passed through this slot and turned atright angles thereto the two sections will be firmly held together, andin attaching the fabric thereto it is placed between these sectionsbefore they are secured, as before described, and the slot 8 is formedin the fabric so as to permit the passage of the button therethrough.

9`and 10 are holes formed in the sections 2 and 3, respectively, whichfall in line with each other when these sections are secured together,and l1 is also a hole in the fabric,V which alines with the last-namedholes. A shutter l2 is pivoted at 13 to the section 3 and adapted toclose the hole 10.

The gas-holder is cut away toward its rear edge, so as to iit under thechin of a person, and l2 are ltapes which are secured to the front edgeof this holder and adapted to pass around the head above the ears, andalso attached to the holder are tapes 13, which pass around the head`below the ears and are secured together by any suitable clamps orbuckles. When the holder is secured in position over the nose and underthe chin, as shown in Fig. l, by these tapes, the anesthetic gas isconveyed thereto by the flexible tube let, which is attached to theinner section by being passed over the end of the metal tube 15,whichprojects through the hole 16, form ed in the fabric for that purpose,and through `the cut-away portion 17 of the section Vhile it is obviousthat any suitable apparatus for generating the gas to be supplied to theholder maybe used, the apparatus here shown and neXt described is theone which I prefer to use for this purpose, and it consists of areservoir 1S of any desired or convenient shape, and upon the top ofthis reservoir is screwed a cap 19, which has a tube 2O projectin gdownward therefrom and terminating IOO in a nozzle 2l,which is immersedin the liquid to be vaporized, and 22 is a rubber bulb having a valve 23at one end and connected by the tube 24 to the cap, so as to communicatewith the tube 20, and by this arrangement air may be forced through thetube 2O and projected through the orifice 25 over the surface of theliquid to be vaporized, and, as is well understood, this forced passageof air over the liquid will vaporize the same, and such a gas will ofcourse be diluted with the air with which it was formed and will thenpass from the reservoir through the tube 14 to the gas-holder I, fromwhence it will be inhaled by the patient.

In order to prevent the gas when entering the holder from. being forceddirectly in contact with the face of the patient, I provide a hood 26,so arranged as to deflect the stream of gas, causing it to move downwardinto the holder.

In practice I have found that when a gasholder as just described is madeof silk or other closely-woven fabric the air expelled from the lungswill escape therefrom through the meshes on account of its being heatedand its molecules being thereby widely separated, but the anesthetic gasbeing of low temperature when entering the gas-holder will not passthrough the same mesh that the heated air passed through, and thereforethe gasholder is relieved from the air exhaled by the patient withoutcarrying with it any material amount of gas. This is of great advantagein the art of administerin(r anesthetics, as will be readily understoodby those skilled therein.

It is to be noted that by the use of my improvement a vapor is notdelivered to the holder for inhalation, but the liquid is vaporized anddiluted with air before passing to said holder, so that the best effectsare had upon the patient with the use of the smallest quantity ofliquid. The obj ect of the shutter is to regulate the passage of airthrough the holes 9, l0, and ll, in order that the strength of the gasadministered to the patient may be regulated by diluting it more or lesswith air.

After the gas-holder has been used by a patient it may be thoroughlycleansed and sterilized by removing it from the shield, as beforedescribed,when no metal parts will remain therewith hindering theoperation of cleansing.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4i and 5 I have omitted the shieldand formed a gasholder 27 so that it will lit high upon the bridge ofthe nose of the patient, and I attach thereto the tapes 28, adapted topass around the neck of a person beneath the chin and be secured to theinhaler by a suitable clamp or buckle, and in order to secure this bagto the nose I use a spring-fork 29, adapted to embrace the bridge of thenose after the manner of a nose-piece in a pair of eyeglasses; and whenthis construction is used the tube 14 enters the holder at the bottomthereof, so

that when it is necessary to cleanse the holder no metallic parts areattached thereto, and therefore the time and labor necessary to removethe shield, as described, will not be required; and a further advantageof this construction is that the cost thereof is maten rially lessenedby the omission of the shield and parts attached thereto.

Other slight modifications might be made in the construction hereshownand described Without departing from the spirit of my invention, whichrests in the broad idea of providing a holder and delivering anestheticgas thereto, and I therefore do not Wish to be limited to the exactdesign here shown and described or the material from which the device ismade.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and usefulis- 1. h In an inhaler, a holder formed of a closely-woven fabric, tapesfor attaching said holder to the head, a shield composed of two sectionssecured together by a turn-button formed on the inner section, passingthrough a hole in the fabric and a hole in the outer section, the innersection having a bead formed on its upper edge adapted to conform to thegeneral shape of the outer section, said inner section having a tubeleading therefrom through a hole in the holder and outer section, thetube having a hood formed on its inner end to deect the stream of gasdownward, a reservoir for containing the liquid to be vaporized andconnected to said tube through a flexible tube or pipe as and for thepurpose described.

2. In an inhaler, a holder formed of closelywoven fabric, means forattaching said holder to the head, a shield composed of two sectionssecured together by a turn button formed on the inner section andpassing through a hole in the fabric and a hole in the outer section, abead around the upper edge of the inner section adapted to conform tothe shape of the outer section, a tube attached to the inner sectionextending through the holder, a hood formed on the inner end of saidtube to deiiect the stream of gas downward, a shutter for regulating thepassage of air to said holder and a reservoir for containing the liquidto be vaporized and connected to said tube by a iieXible tube or pipe asand for the purpose described.

3. In an inhaler, a holder formed of closelywoven fabric, a shieldcomposed of two sections, a bead formed around the edge of one of thesections adapted to conform to the shape of the other section, saidsections being secured together With the holder intervening, the sectionhaving the bead being secured on the interior with the bead next to theholder, a tube leading to the interior of the holder having a hoodformed on its inner end to deiiect the stream of gas downward, as andfor the purpose described.

4. In an inhaler for anesthetics, a holder of closely-woven fabric, ashield composed of IIO IZO

two sections, a bead formed around the edge In testimony whereof I havehereunto afof one of the sections adapted to conform to Xed mysignaturein the presence of two sub- 1o the shape of the other section, saidsections soribing Witnesses.

being secured together with the fabric inter- Venng, the section havingthe bead being EDVARD s' GRIGSbY' secured on the interior with the beadnext to Vitnesses: the holder and means for supplying gas to S.SNVILLIAMSON, said holder as and for the purpose described. MARK BUFORD.

